LuckyBlackCat

Alt-Earth: To Find a Haven in Hell

@Asesina Feel free to write both Cara and Jane getting to the top floor.

Alt-Earth: To Find a Haven in Hell

Cara Bryant

A slight smile softened Cara's formerly stoic expression. "It's no trouble," she replied. "That injury should be healed in a matter of days, but you'll still want to be careful with it in the meantime." The change in the woman's attitude brought relief. Not only because it was now clear she wasn't hostile, but it seemed she'd be ok in a world where so many people weren't.

Visibly relaxing, Cara nodded in response to the offer. "Good idea for people to stick together when possible anyway," she replied. She probably sounded paranoid, and hoped she wasn't setting the girl's nerves on edge, but the intention was to reassure her there was safety in numbers. Relative safety, in any case.

"If you want, I can check on the wound in the morning," she offered. The girl would likely want the effect renewed by then, especially if she was planning on setting out. Cara hauled her backpack onto her shoulders and started her way up the stairs, her ascent slow as she held onto the rail, careful not to slip in the water trickles. With any luck, the upper floors wouldn't be too bad, although of course that depended just how leaky the roof was.

The Zephyr Extinct

✾ Steel Rose ✾

"Mmmmmmph!" With a muffled cry, Rose flailed, dropping her gun and falling backwards. She winced as she landed on her shoulder, already sore from recoil. On instinct, she gripped and pulled at the creature's sludgy body to no avail, then stopped. No. Bad idea. If she accidentally pulled the mask off along with the Nox, and it recognised her as human... It didn't bear thinking about. Yet, with Cedar hurt, and with her lungs straining for oxygen as the mask pressed against her face, someone had to do something.

More than Fluke was doing. Rose had tried to brush off his jibes and passivity, but now irritation simmered. Why watch them if he wasn't going to help them? His duty may be mission control, but surely he could do something in a pinch. As could Archer. For the gods' sake, it wasn't like either of them were far behind.

As the Nox covered Rose's ears and the speakers, Cedar's offer sounded garbled, but she got the gist of it. Even with all the ways it could go wrong, it was their only real option, unless Fluke had some tricks up his sleeve - and actually bothered to use them. With some difficulty from the writhing mass of shadow, she nodded. "That'd be great," she tried to say, although her words came out as an incoherent mumble.

Be my Sanctuary

Yep, unless you'd rather write the next day, I'm good with either.

Alt-Earth: To Find a Haven in Hell

Cara Bryant

Cara pressed her lips together, but showed no other sign that the comment had gotten to her. She'd heard worse from some people she'd helped, and the attacks weren't always merely verbal. Even so, a duty was a duty. "I'm a paramedic," she said, to explain both the blood and her offer to treat the woman's injury, as she took her first aid kit from her backpack. "Or at least, I was until all this happened."

She approached the girl, setting down the first aid kit on a higher step, donning thin translucent gloves and examining the wound. It wasn't deep enough to need stitches, but bore the distinctive jagged edges of a bite, heightening the risk of infection. She set to work cleaning and dressing it, the glow returning to her hands as she did so. Her fingertips tingled, neither her gloves nor the bandages stopping the energy from flowing through. "This will speed up the healing process a little," she explained. The girl would feel the effect right away - reduced pain, and no blood seeping through the bandage - but would still have to be careful not to aggravate the injury.

Once done, Cara put away the medical supplies. "How's that?" If the woman wanted to rest, hopefully she'd have an easier time of it now, in so far as rest could be easy in recent years. Of course, there was always the chance the girl would use the slight recovery as an opportunity to attack. Cara could feel the strain setting in, partly from earlier, but couldn't let her guard down just yet.

Be my Sanctuary

Is this a good point to timeskip?

Be my Sanctuary

Jessamyn "Jess" Bailey

Jess looked over at Roxy, face resolute despite the lingering anxiety. At least it had eased as much as it could for both of them. "Not able to yet," she said, emphasis on the last word. "We'll find some way to get out of this." The fact that others had succeeded didn't make the situation Roxy's fault. It was just proof they had a chance of doing the same... wasn't it?

"And yep, sounds good, I will do." Another hour of swimming suited her, and the physical exertion would hopefully mean they'd sleep better. She swam around the pool, her thoughts going in circles as her body did. The relaxation should have helped her think clearly, but no ideas came to mind. No ideas yet, anyway, she told herself as she'd told Roxy. They'd think of something. They'd have to.

Pokemon Spiral

Lan Sohai

Mesalon Gym

@Typical

For all the nervousness evident in Aedre's voice and mannerisms, Lan listened intently. Ghost types were perceptive, and if the Honedge had brought such a detail to her attention, it had to be for a reason, which gave likelihood to her theory. "Trouble truly has been stirring up around here lately," he replied. "You have my word, though. I'll help the police look into the matter, and watch out for anything suspicious."

As a Kosei gym leader, he'd worked with the police a few times - particularly decades ago, when the region hadn't been quite such a pleasant place. Now, calm seemed to be giving way to chaos once again.

---

Amber Pine

Mesalon Gym

@Typical @Zanavy

Amber gave Lan a slight smile. "Thanks." Going by the way she'd seen him calmly solve a crisis a few days ago, she and Aedre had done the right thing to report it to him. Now to hope the combined efforts of the gym leader and the police would turn up the missing package before long, or at all.

At a rustling in her pocket, she looked to see Tacita flutter out and perch on Aedre's other shoulder, opposite Little. Clearly aware of Aedre's distress, the Rowlet hooted and nuzzled her face. "Aw, it's certainly a great help to have Pokemon by our side," Amber commented, that smile brightening. "No matter what happens."

She glanced from Aedre to Ty, who strolled over as if ready for his challenge, or close to it. Given Sophia's exit, and Alexis' apparent hesitation for all her earlier blustering, it seemed Ty would likely be Lan's next opponent. "Hey, how did the training go?"

Notes

Pokemon Party: Kabuto "Chalcedony" lv11, Yanma "Aeshna" lv9, Rockruff "Kyra" lv13, Rowlet "Tacita" lv11, Anorith "Larimar" lv13, Sableye "Almandine" lv12
Pokemon in PC:
Inventory: Pokeball x1, Potion x2, Dusk Ball x1

Alt-Earth: To Find a Haven in Hell

Cara Bryant

Cara needed somewhere to rest.

True rest was a distant memory, with danger around every corner, and remnants of society to help hold together. Still, people had their limits. Especially when they'd failed to save someone. Cara gritted her teeth at the scene from a few hours ago replaying through her mind. The collapsed figure. The stab wound. The blood, so much blood, more than she could keep from seeping away, through magical or mundane means. She glanced down at her clothes, at the deep red stains that the rain couldn't wash away. He'd been past saving even before she'd arrived, but the knowledge didn't help. It didn't this time, and it hadn't all those other times.

The only semblance of relief was a silhouette through the downpour. A building. Knowing better than to hurry to it, Cara hid in the overgrowth, wary eyes flicking this way at that. She'd given a slight boost to her eyesight earlier, a boost that was starting to fade, but made the view clear enough for her to know the coast also was. Shivering, she pushed aside foliage and crept into the hotel.

Her footsteps splashed across the flooded floor, then stopped. She wasn't alone. Across the lobby, a woman made her way up the staircase. Cara tensed, her guard up, but slowly approached anyway at the sight of something. A raw, ragged neck wound. This girl needed medical attention, something Cara wasn't going to deny anyone.

"Do you need help?" she called, in as calm and gentle a tone as she could. "It's ok, I'm not going to hurt you." Unless she gives me no choice, Cara thought, heavy-hearted. She doubted the tattooed woman would find a stranger covered in blood reassuring, especially in a world like this, so she held out her hands and let a soft glow dance across her veins. Showing that she was of the light would hopefully put the girl at ease.

The Zephyr Extinct

Post is finally up! Sorry about the wait, been really busy with an online course.

Anyway, @Grey Omen, help has arrived! As long as Rose doesn't turn out more of a hindrance than a help, that is.